Sean and I just finished our last vacation as "a couple sans children". We had a great time and it was really wonderful to just be together. We had wanted to leave Japan and go somewhere hot for Christmas again but I didn't feel too good about leaving the comforts of home and hospital at the midpoint of our pregnancy. So I finally convinced Sean into a 5 night vacation in Sapporo and all the snowboarding he could do all season long. Snowboarding is out for me this year as I'm a bit too far along. So I hang out in the lodge, go for walks and write blog posts!
Sapporo was wonderful. It snowed everyday and it was truly magical at times. We lounged in Starbuck's for at least an hour every morning with such beverages in hand as Gingerbread latte, Creme Brulee latte and Valencia Orange mocha. We spent our days walking thru the snow, shopping, eating lunch along the way, visiting bakeries and marvelling at the crowds. Christmas is not celebrated here like it is in the west. Part of the oddness of Christmas here is that people eat fried chicken and a fancy cake for dinner. The line-ups at the bakeries were simply insane. This visit to Sapporo was more human intensive than our visit Tokyo and Kyoto this summer. We went out for dinner every night (Indian, Mexican, Asian fusion, Thai and 1 night of fast food) and then usually crashed into bed by 7:30 or 8 to watch ridiculous Japanese programs or whatever foreign film was being offered up.
We returned to Obihiro and lounged around our pad for a couple of days and Sean got a few days of snowboarding in at Nukabira as well. Sean hooked up our newly purchased DVD player and we spent our evenings watching rented DVD's. We learned that washing your car is "the" thing to do on New Year's Eve in Japan. There were line ups around the block for most car wash joints. We spent the wee hours of New Year's Day at the Obihiro Shinto Shrine where we said a short prayer on the top step of the Shrine. Then we both literally rang in the New Year on the big bronze bell on the grounds at the Buddhist Temple near our apartment. We spent the evening of our last day in great conversation with our friend Keiko who had made an amazing meal.
If you're pregnant or thinking about having kids I strongly suggest you find the time and money to do this kind of thing with your partner. Just get away and enjoy doing things with your honey. You won't regret it.
Originally, this blog was created to chronicle the experience of starting our family in Japan. Now in Canada & expecting our second child...the journey & the adventure continues...
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